UNIT 1

THE KEYBOARD
Open the lid of your piano and you'll find a neat arrangement
keys: the keyboard.
computer,

Don't

worry,

it's not so different

of black and white

from the keyboard

which was named after this one. In fact, it's a lot simpler.

on a

There are only

two types of key, black and white.

Look at the pattern

they form. Mostly,

white

white, black, white and so on. But sometimes

no black key between
between

them

keys alternate

with black keys:

two whites sit next to each other with

them. That means some of the black keys have a larger gap

than others. Look at the whole keyboard

and you will see that the

black keys are in a group of tWO, then a group of three, then another two and so on.
Those five black keys (a group of two and a group of three), with the seven white
keys around
the keyboard.

them, form a pattern

To understand

keys in that pattern,

of 12 keys that repeats itself along the length

the keyboard,

note its position,

of

you need ro be able to pick one of the

then find the equivalent

key where the pattern

repeats itself, then again and again. Each of the keys that makes up the pattern

is a

different note, with a name taken from the letters of the alphabet.
At the beginning,
in the pattern:

note has a different

pattern.

ABC

concentrate

on getting

to know the positions

the black keys are the signposts

letter-name

Then the letter-names

0 E F GAB

until, after seven notes, we return to the starr of the

start again from the beginning.

C 0 E F G A

Press down the keys, one at a time, near the right-hand

again at the left-hand
higher,

of the white notes

that help you find them. Each white

end. What's

and those further

move along the keyboard

forward

through

through

the alphabet.

the difference?

end of the keyboard:

Notes further

to the left sound lower. This is their pitch.

to the right,

the alphabet.

When

then

to the right sound

When

you

the pitch goes up and the note name moves

you move left you go down, and backwards

Try saying your alphabet

backwards from G to A.

Exercise 1.1
Look at the picture of the keyboard. Middle C is close to the middle of the keyboard,
immediately to the left of a group of two black notes. Now find it on the piano. Close
the book and find every other C. Then find every D, E, F, G, A and B.

The right height

Adjusting the height at which you sit every time
you practise is a hugely boring waste of time.
That's why you should have an adjustable piano

The distance from one note to the next one with the same letter-name

stool, which you can set permanently at the right

octave.

height for you. Don't settle for cushions on a chair,

So we say that the pattern

is called an

repeats itself at every octave (every eighth step).

or for one of those old-looking stools with a place

for the music inside: you can't adjust them. Later

POSTURE AND TECHNIQUE

you may find it necessary to change the height

slightly to play different kinds of music.

Apart

from the drums,

Good pianists

don't

the piano may be the most physical

just play with fingers and hands,

how every inch of their body contributes

That means your posture

36

they're

instrument

there is.

constantly

aware of

to the music.

- how you position

yourself at the piano - is really